Women in AI
Poppy Gustafsson
Former CEO, Darktrace
Poppy Gustafsson, Baroness Gustafsson, CBE, is the former CEO of Darktrace, a global leader in AI-powered cybersecurity. She led Darktrace from a Cambridge-based startup to a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, building AI systems that autonomously detect and respond to cyber threats using self-learning technology inspired by the human immune system.
In 2024, Gustafsson was appointed Minister of State for Investment in the UK government, bringing her technology and business expertise to government. She was created a Life Peer as Baroness Gustafsson of Grantham and was previously awarded a CBE for services to cybersecurity.
A chartered accountant by training, Gustafsson joined Darktrace from Autonomy (the UK enterprise software company). At Darktrace, she built the company into a cybersecurity leader with thousands of enterprise customers worldwide, demonstrating the commercial viability of AI-first security solutions.
Her career arc — from startup CEO to government minister — reflects the growing importance of AI and cybersecurity expertise in national policy.
